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Titanium Vacancies in TiO2 Nanofibers Enable Highly Efficient Photodriven Seawater Splitting |
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| Authors: | Yan-Xiang Zhang Dr. Si-Ming Wu Dr. Ge Tian Xiao-Fang Zhao Dr. Li-Ying Wang Dr. Yi-Xia Yin Lu Wu Qian-Ni Li Prof. Dr. Yue-Xing Zhang Prof. Dr. Jin-Song Wu Prof. Dr. Christoph Janiak Prof. Dr. Kenneth I. Ozoemena Prof. Dr. Menny Shalom Prof. Dr. Xiao-Yu Yang |
| Affiliation: | 1. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing &, School of Materials Science and Engineering &, NRC (Nanostructure Research Centre), Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070 P. R. China These authors contributed equally to this work.;2. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, 519000 P. R. China School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA These authors contributed equally to this work.;3. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing &, School of Materials Science and Engineering &, NRC (Nanostructure Research Centre), Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070 P. R. China;4. State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071 P. R. China;5. Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry-of-Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062 P. R. China;6. Institut für Anorganische Chemie und Strukturchemie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, 40204 Germany;7. Molecular Sciences Institute, School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2050 South Africa;8. Department of Chemistry and Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 8410501 Israel |
| Abstract: | Photodriven seawater splitting is considered to be one of the most promising techniques for sustainable hydrogen production. However, the high salinity of seawater would deactivate catalysts and consume the photogenerated carriers. Metal vacancies in metal oxide semiconductors are critical to directed electron transfer and high salinity resistance; they are thus desirable but remain a challenge. We demonstrate a facile controllable calcination approach to synthesize TiO2 nanofibers with rich Ti vacancies with excellent photo/electro performances and long-time stability in photodriven seawater splitting, including photocatalysis and photo-electrocatalysis. Experimental measurements and theoretical calculations reveal the formation of titanium vacancies, as well as unidirectional electron trap and superior H+ adsorption ability for efficient charge transfer and resistance to corrosion by seawater. Therefore, atomic-/nanoscale characteristics and mechanism have been proposed to clarify the generation of titanium vacancies and the corresponding interfacial electron transfer. |
| Keywords: | hierarchical nanostructures photo-/electrodirected catalysis seawater splitting titanium vacancies |